Jewel
by GreaserGirl21
Summary: Story about a girl named Jewel...Outsiders tie-in. Sorry, better summary later :/
1. Jewel

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A big thanks to Greasy Gal for helping me with this FF! ;) For all her editing and advice...and for puttin' up with me

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Jewel sat there, just staring at her paper. She trailed off, and thought about the random events that happened at school that day.

First off, her English teacher had fallen down the stairs by "accident" and had to be rushed to the hospital. It was just a broken leg; she rolled her eyes at that. The teacher was crying and freaking out over nothing.

Then, the lunch lady gave her a dirty look for asking: "Do you serve anything edible in this school?" After thinking about it, she probably deserved that dirty look, though.

And then – to top it all off – she'd gotten an F in Math … _again._

She came back from her daze, and looked down at the paper again. Doing homework wasn't her thing, especially when it was English.

She had to write an essay on what she thought it would be like to live during the "Romeo & Juliet time", as her teacher had put it.

She hated love and romance books. They bored her most of the time. Two people would meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after. The only interesting – and different – thing she found about it was that they die!

"You gonna eat?" A voice from behind her nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Jeez, James, you scared the hell out of me!" Jewel replied to her older brother, who was standing in the doorway.

He gave her a look that said, '_watch the language'. _

"Yeah, yeah. I'm comin'," she said, while dropping her pen onto the table.

She walked downstairs into the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?" she asked, not seeing anything set out on the table.

Her brother handed her five dollars.

She wriggled her eyebrows. "You want me to eat a five dollar bill?"

"Smart aleck." He walked over to the fridge and drank some milk out of the bottle as she made a face. "Go get somethin' to eat at the Dingo … or someplace."

Jewel sighed and decided she didn't want to starve, so she headed for the Dingo.


	2. The Dingo

Jewel pulled a cigarette out of her back pocket. Her older brother, James, didn't like her smoking, so she tried not to do it around him.

Walking by the Curtis house, she saw the boys messing around on the porch.

She hesitated, and wondered if she should say hi or not.

'_The walk to the Dingo could be a little dangerous_,' she thought. Plus, it was a Friday night. Everyone was out on a Friday night. Even the Socs, who scared her half to death.

"Hey, guys!" she said suddenly, as she walked onto the front yard of the Curtis house.

"Hey, Jewel," Ponyboy Curtis, the youngest of the Curtis brothers, said.

She smiled at him. Ponyboy was one of her closest friends. They'd known each other since they were younger, but never talked much until now. His parents had died in a car crash or something – Jewel could relate. Her mom had died when she was younger. Her dad couldn't bare it and started drinking, then left shortly after she died.

Jewel had lost her parents when she was younger – so young, that she couldn't even remember. Jewel would make something up to her friends whenever they talked about their parents.

James had been taking care of her ever since. Sure, he wasn't the _best_ guardian, but she loved her brother.

"What're they doin'?" She motioned toward Sodapop and Steve who were arguing about something.

"Steve and Soda want to go out tonight, but Darry doesn't want to leave me home alone again." Pony sighed. "I don't understand. I ain't a kid anymore. I'm old enough to be home by myself."

"Hey, Jewel." Johnny walked up onto the porch and stood by the two.

"Hey, Johnny!" She smiled at him. "

What are you doin' here?" he asked.

"Oh, I was gonna head over to the Dingo. Y'all wanna come?" she asked, hoping they would want to. She was tired of going alone.

Ponyboy shrugged. "Sure. Lemme ask Darry, though." He went into the house.

"Guys …" Jewel stepped in between the two arguing boys. "I'll take care of Pony for ya. Don't worry about him; he's with good ol' me!" She grinned at them.

"Yeah, _that's_ what worries me…" Darry was standing in the doorway with Pony.

Jewel's grinned faded as turned around. "C'mon, Darry, it was one time!"

Soda and Steve were laughing by this time. Darry half grinned which kind of shocked Jewel. The only one who could make Darry smile was Sodapop.

'_Good day at work?'_ she thought to herself.

This must have showed on her face because Darry stopped. "Fine, I'll let you go. But _don't_ get in trouble." He pointed a finger at her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I know. I don't need another brother ..." she said. "I don't know why everyone thinks _I'm_ the troublemaker …" she said half to herself.

Sodapop laughed. "Maybe it's because ya can't walk past a car without leaving it alone?"

Jewel couldn't help but laugh. It was half true. Okay, _all _true. "Maybe …. Okay, let's go! I'm starving, here!"

She jumped off the porch as Ponyboy and Johnny followed.

"Hey, wait up …!" Sodapop strolled over.

"I thought you were gonna go out tonight with Steve?" Ponyboy asked.

"Eh, I'll go with him another time. He's going out with Evie instead

As they walked toward the Dingo – from a distance – they saw the infamous Dallas Winston harassing some chicks.

As they got closer, Jewel yelled, "Dallas Winston, is that you?!" She wanted to ebmarass him.

For that one second that he looked away from them, the girls took their chance and ran off. Dally was slightly angry. It only made Jewel laugh.

"What are you doin' here? Don't you know you could get jumped?" he asked.

"What, by a big mean greaser like you?" Jewel cocked her eyebrow like she had seen Two-Bit do. "Plus," Jewel added, "I got all these strong, handsome boys go protect me."

Jewel could make most people laugh or smile, but not the way Sodapop could. Soda's smile was contagious.

Jewel had an okay relationship with Dally, she guessed. Most of the time, it was like siblings who were just kidding around.

That's how most of the gang was with Jewel. She figured she was left out sometimes because she was a girl. Sometimes, listening to bull sessions wasn't exactly her idea of fun.

"We're gettin' something to eat," Johnny piped up.

"Hey, Johnny. Didn't see ya there." Dally gave him a good-natured slap on the back.

"Ya'll gonna get anything or just wait out here?" Jewel asked.

"Naw, we'll just stay out here," Pony replied.

Jewel said "okay" and walked into the Dingo to wait in line.


	3. The Dingo Continued

"I'm surprised Darry let you come here with Jewel," Sodapop was saying to Ponyboy.

Soda was curious about that, because Darry didn't like Jewel much more than he did Dally. And Darry let Ponyboy hang out with Dally more than Jewel. Jewel was an angel compared to Dally. _Maybe 'cuz Jewel is a girl…_He thought to himself. _But that wouldn't make much of a difference. _Soda thought more: _I guess Dally is a part of the gang, and Jewel isn't….as much._ He started to confuse himself so he stopped thinking about it.

Inside, Jewel was still waiting in line.

When she finally got to the front she ordered a Coke and fries.

As she took her order, and headed out, a few boys cut infront of her. She looked up from her feet, and she recognized them. It was her ex-boyfriend and his friends, _again_.

"What do you want?" she asked bitterly.

He flashed a sinister smile and whispered something dirty in her ear. If it were any other guy, she probably would've thrown that Coke right into his face. But she knew him.

They had gone together for about a year. There were several rumors that he was cheating on her, but of course she thought her boyfriend was loyal, and didn't believe any of the rumors. Until she caught him. He had told everyone that _he _broke it off.

He was pretty handsome, but he was one of the nastier greasers, the ones that went on to become hoodlums.

"Haven't you moved on yet?" she asked, irritated.

"Baby, you know you still love me." He tried to grab her but she moved away.

"I'm going with someone else." She lied.

He was taken off guard. "Oh, yeah? Who?"

Jewel couldn't think of what to say. Who could she say was her boyfriend? She looked out the window, and saw her friends.

"Him …" She pointed to no one in particular. She hoped he wouldn't notice.

Mike turned to the direction in which Jewel had pointed. He growled a little, as he and his friends strolled out the door and shot Sodapop the dirtiest look.

Jewel smiled to herself and walked outside. "

What was that about?" Ponyboy asked.

"My ex-boyfriend," she shrugged, "You know how they are."

"Oh."

"He got somethin' against me?" Soda asked.

Jewel sipped her Coke. "He wouldn't leave me alone, so I said I was with someone else. I pointed to you guys, and I guess he thought it was you, Soda. I'm sorry." She made a puppy dog face.

"It's okay …" He put his arm around her, lightheartedly.

"Hey, Pony, do you think you'd be able to come see a movie with us?" she asked.

Ponyboy shrugged. "I guess …"

"Don't worry about Dar, Pone. We can go see the movie," Soda said.

Jewel spotted some people she knew pulling up to the Dingo.

"Okay. I gotta talk to some people real quick. We got a while before the movie starts." Jewel said while Dallas lit up a cigarette and walked off.

She was talking to her friends, mostly guys, and seeing who was going with whom and who had gotten into fights – the usual stuff.

Nothing was really new. Except for her friend was going out with _her_ old boyfriend. It made her a little mad, but she could care less now.

'_That's probably why he came and saw me today_,' she thought.


	4. A Little Revenge at the Nightly Double

They decided to take the illegal way in – because Dally insisted – climbing under the chain link fence and not paying.

Jewel liked sitting in the front, so she took her spot, while the rest of the gang found seats around her.

Ponyboy and Johnny sat behind Jewel and Sodapop while Dally stopped to talk to Tim and argue a little.

Jewel liked watching movies, but she was easily distracted. Sodapop seemed like he couldn't sit still either.

"I need something to do," Jewel turned around and said to Ponyboy.

"Watching the movie would be an option," he replied sarcastically. "I think that's what we're here for."

She laughed. "Smartass. I'm gonna go get a Coke or somethin'. You want anything?"

He just shook his head and returned his eyes to the screen.

"How about you, Johnny?" she asked. "Do you want anything?"

Johnny barely shook his head. "No."

"Alright. Soda?"

"Sure, I could go for a coke," he said.

They got up and walked over to the concession stand.

As they waited, they talked about Darry and Pony mostly. Jewel cared a lot about Ponyboy, and so did Soda. They were both a bit worried about him.

When they started walking back, Jewel spotted her ex-boyfriend. He had been following her.

Jewel stopped in her tracks when she saw the look on his face. It was a coincidence how she just so happened to be with Sodapop the minute Mike looked at her.

Mike walked past them, bumping into Soda on purpose. Jewel hated to see what was coming.

"You left me for this jerk?" Mike asked with an edge to his voice.

Soda went along and played Mike's little game. He slipped his arm around Jewel's shoulder.

Before anyone knew it, Mike slugged Soda right across his face. Jewel jumped.

Soda fell to the ground. Then, he jumped up grabbed Mike's shoulder and threw a right hook.

Once they both got a punch in they grabbed at each other and threw a few more punches.

Jewel hesitated. She didn't know what to do! Should she get into the middle of two greasers going at it?

"Mike!" she cried, as ran in-between the two and tried to shove them apart. "Stop it!"

Soda backed away, breathing heavily. Mike scowled, and popped up his collar coolly, as he strolled off.

Soda was wiped his lip with his shirt sleeve.

"Aw, Soda, don't do that," Jewel said, as she pulled a napkin out of her pocket and began to wipe his lip. "I'm sorry, Soda."

She didn't know what so say except for "sorry".

He was still staring off in the direction of where Mike went off to. "It's alright …" he said, pushing her hand away from his face and wincing.

"Sorry." She apologized again.

"Jewel, its fine …" He put his arm around her shoulder again and they started walk back.

"But if I hadn't told him –"

Soda interrupted. "Jewels …" He stopped walking and looked at her. "It ain't your fault. It's his fault for being such an asshole." He smiled at her.

She just smiled at him and continued to walk.

"Soda!" Pony jumped up when they got back to their seats. "What happened?"

Soda felt his face, it was a little swollen. That damn guy had a good swing. "Nothin'," he replied. "I'll tell ya later."


	5. Nighty Night

When Jewel got home, all the lights were off and James was asleep on the couch. She could barely see anything but the black and white glare coming from the TV.

She walked over quietly, turned off the TV, and put a blanket over her sleeping brother.

She yawned and walked to her bedroom, tripping over shoes on the way. She changed into pajamas then flopped on her bed.

She sighed, thinking about Mike and Sodapop. She still felt bad and wanted to apologize again, but before she could think about it anymore she fell fast asleep.

"Ugh … quit shakin' me!" Jewel grumbled.

"Jewel!" Her brother was shaking her while she was still half asleep.

"What?" She turned over on her side, hoping he would leave her alone.

"Julie!" He yelled again.

"WHAT?" She whipped around, almost hitting her brother in the face.

James took a step back. "Jeez." She stared at him, waiting for an answer as to why he woke her up in the middle of the night. "You were yelling in your sleep – you woke me up."

"Oh, sorry." She scratched her head. "What was I dreaming about?"

"Hell, if I know. It was _your_ dream."

"I never remember my dreams," she mumbled to herself.

James shrugged and went to his bedroom to sleep.

Jewel thought about her dream. She never remembered her dreams, not even when she was little when most people remember them.

A faint image of her dad flashed in her mind. This almost made her jump.

Her dad left a long time ago, and every now and then when he needed money or a place to crash, he came back.

She was usually happy when he came back, but James wasn't. He was always so bitter towards him, but her dad didn't seem to notice.

She didn't want to think about her dad anymore, so she turned around and went back to sleep.


End file.
